His Della Robbia
by 2remember
Summary: A strange woman has been visiting Odd in his dreams. Can he figure out what she wants before tragedy befalls someone close to him?


The main characters in this story are based on characters from the cartoon 'Code Lyoko.' I do not own, nor do I claim, any copyright to these characters.

* * *

The top floor of the old factory was comprised of offices. No one ever went up there. They either stayed off the floor entirely, or passed by on the way to the roof. It was perfect for Odd Della Robbia's needs.

He had picked out one of the corner offices, one that had windows on two sides to admit lots of sunlight. Since there wasn't electricity on this floor, he needed all of the light he could get. The office became Odd's Artist Studio.

It was a place he could come and paint, draw or whatever, and not have to worry about anyone seeing what he was doing. That last part was especially important for another reason.

It was about the only place he could meet with Sissi Delmas with any guarantee of privacy.

Odd and Sissi got together about a year and a half earlier. They, and their friends Jeremie Belpois, Aelita Hopper, Ulrich Stern and Yumi Ishiyama, had an incredible adventure together, and one of the results of that adventure was that Sissi and Odd fell in love.

Which had one problem. Sissi's father was the Principal/Headmaster of Kadic Academy, the school they attended. To put it mildly, Principal Delmas was not pleased by his daughter's choice of beau.

While he never did anything overt about it, Mr. Delmas kept a very close eye on the two of them. He had even shuffled things around so that Sissi now had a roommate, rather than her own room. It helped a little that Sissi's roommate was Aelita Hopper, but not much.

Odd did his best to coast under Principal Delmas' radar, but it didn't always work out. One of these times, Odd was sure, the principal was going to take Odd out and just bury him someplace.

All of which made his Artist Studio a perfect meeting place for two young lovers.

Today, Odd was sitting on the floor with a sketch pad and pencil, drawing Sissi. She was leaning against a desk, her legs together in front of her, her arms on the edge of the desk supporting her upper body. She was dressed in her school clothes.

"Can I relax now?"

"Yeah, go ahead for a couple of minutes. I can do the rest from memory," he replied.

She stood up and walked over to him. he pulled the sketch pad up to his chest protectively.

"Hey, I'm not done yet!" he said.

"Well, I just want to make sure you're not drawing me as Godzilla or something."

"No, I stopped doing that a long time ago. But I want to finish it before I show you."

"Your no fun..." Then she snatched the pad from Odd and ran across the room.

"Give me that back!"

Before he managed to get it from her, she looked at what he drew.

It was of her, leaning back against the desk. She half wondered if he might have drawn her nude, but he hadn't. She was dressed as she was that day, nothing was different.

Except the background.

Directly behind Sissi, was a half invisible person, a woman. The woman almost looked like Sissi, but years older. The woman had her hands on Sissi's shoulders, and she was smiling.

"Odd, what is this?" she asked him.

"I don't know, Sissi," he replied, "but I've had this image in my head for weeks now, and it won't go away. This isn't the first one I've drawn, either."

He took the pad from her and flipped back a few pages. There was another drawing of the woman, more distinct. Odd turned a page, and there was the woman again. And again on another page.

"Odd, are you seeing someone else?" she mockingly accused him.

"No, I have no idea where she came from. She just started popping up in my dreams lately."

Sissi perked up at that. Dreams sometimes were more than dreams to Sissi and her friends.

"Could it be XANA..."

"No, I don't think so, and neither does Jeremie," Odd replied, "I told him after the third dream, thinking exactly that. He and Aelita did some checking, but didn't find anything out of place. Even Franz Hopper was silent."

"Well, where did she come from?"

"Like I said, I don't know. A few weeks ago I was dreaming and she, liked, showed up."

"What were you dreaming?"

"Oh, not much. You, a bowl of strawberries, some whipped cream..."

She gave Odd a good smack across the back of the head.

"Well, anyway, I was dreaming and she just showed up. One minute, nothing, the next, she's standing there, looking at me," Odd went on, "the next time, I dreamed about her. She would walk up to me, and nothing. About the only thing I did was I would walk all around her, looking at her. Like that was I was supposed to be doing."

"Just look at her," Sissi said, skeptically.

"Yeah, like I was supposed to draw her or something," he replied, "and after that dream, I did start drawing her." He pointed to the first sketch of the woman.

"Well, that's odd, even for you," she told him, "did you ever try and talk to her?"

"Yeah, after I did the first picture. It looked like she was answering me, but I didn't hear anything. She tried again to say something, but nothing came out. She was getting real frustrated by that time, but she finally said something I could hear. 'Help Him.'"

"Help him?"

"Yeah, then she was gone. And it's the same thing every time I dream of her, 'Help Him.'"

"Who's the 'him'?"

"I don't know," Odd said, "next time I see her, I'll ask."

At that moment, both of their cell phones rang. Looking at their displays, the message "XANA...FACTORY" flashed.

"We'd better get down there," Sissi said, starting for the door.

"No, hold up, Sissi," Odd said, grabbing her arm and pulling her close, "we need to wait a few minutes before heading down. I don't want the others knowing that we've got a place up here."

Odd kissed her before she could argue with him.

* * *

That evening, Odd dreamed of the woman again. 

She was standing before him in a white dress with a hemline that reached the ground. She was once again trying to tell him something.

"Help Him," she said.

"Help who," Odd replied, "I'd like to help, but I need to know who needs it. And what kind of help?"

The woman closed her eyes for a moment, trying to control her impatience, it seemed. She then said, "Delmas. Help Delmas."

"Sissi, she's okay. Everything's fine with her."

"Him, Help Him. Delmas," the woman said.

"Principal Delmas?" Odd said, finally making the connection.

The woman nodded _yes_ emphatically.

"What kind of trouble is Principal Delmas in?"

"Sad. Sorrow. Despair. Danger. Soon," the woman replied.

"What can I do?"

"Tell Him. Show Him. I Love Him. I Await Him. Soon, but Not Now. Please."

The woman was almost in tears with that last word. Something clicked in Odd's mind.

"Are you Sissi's mother?"

"Yes."

* * *

In another dream, Sissi was sitting in a meadow, on a lovely summer day, having a picnic with a coyote. 

She poured the coyote a cup of tea and said, "it's a fine day today isn't it, Mr. Coyote?"

"Yes, it is a fine day, Elizabeth," the coyote replied.

"I wish you would call me Sissi like everybody else does, sir," she said, playfully.

"I must speak of Things As They Really Are, Elizabeth," the coyote told her, "and you know that."

Taking a sip of tea, he continued, "there is something serious going on in your world, something you just recently became aware of. Good Tea, by the way."

"You mean that last XANA attack? There wasn't anything to that, and Jeremie and Mr. Hopper said they would do some more checking and..."

"That's not what I meant, Elizabeth. This has nothing to do with XANA or your fight, but it does have something to do with you and Odd."

"Someone, one of the Ascended, is trying to contact someone living in your world. It happens from time to time, and while it isn't strictly forbidden, it is a very dangerous and difficult thing to do. This being believes that someone she left behind is in great danger, and wants to help him. It is being Allowed, as a Lesson to her, and to you and Odd."

"Is it the woman in Odd's dreams?"

"Yes, it is."

"And what is the lesson?"

"To Her, and you both, the Lesson is how difficult is for the Ascended to communicate with mortals."

"But, who is she, and who is she trying to help?"

The coyote shook his head, "it is not for me to say. Odd has that answer, by now anyway. Now I want you to give him a message from me. Tell him of our conversation. Tell him that those who have Ascended are on such a different plane of existence than mortals that they can barely comprehend them. That is why the woman is having trouble telling him what he needs to know. What she has told him makes perfect sense to her, but it sounds like near gibberish or the utterings of a madwoman to him."

"Is there anything I can do to help them?"

"Yes, and you will, in time," the coyote replied, "now, it's time for you to leave. Tell Odd what I've told you. I can't interfere directly with Odd in this Lesson, but I'll try and help through you. Now, be on your way. And thanks again for the tea."

* * *

They talked the next day at Odd's Studio. Odd took the information Sissi gave him in stride. Sissi was a little more surprised by Odd's revelation. 

"My Mother?"

"Yeah, she's afraid something's going to happen to your dad, and real soon. If it's so hard for dead people to talk to living people, it must be something real serious for her to even try. Is everything alright with your father?"

"Yes, as far as I know. You know it's hard sometimes to get through the Principal Suit to Daddy, but the only thing I know about that's bothering him right now is the money that's disappearing from the school's accounts."

"Yeah, and Mr. Hopper is looking into that," Odd said.

Just recently, it came out that someone was funneling funds out of Kadic Academy's bank accounts. The school's auditors couldn't find anything out of the ordinary in the school's accounting records, but something was happening. Desmond Hopper, the school's attorney and Aelita's uncle, thought it strange enough to tell Aelita and the others, in case it might be some kind of strange XANA attack. They had been checking into various things since then, but nothing came up.

"Sissi, have you heard anything that might make people think your father was taking the money?"

"No, and Daddy never would!" she retorted, "he would _never_ do anything like that!"

"I know, but that might explain why your mother is so worried about him," Odd reassured her.

During the conversation, Odd was scribbling away madly in his sketch pad.

"You know, I wish she would have come to me. I never knew her. Why would she want to just see Daddy and not see me?" Tears started down Sissi's face.

"Maybe this is why," Odd replied, and showed her what he had sketched.

It was two figures. One was Sissi, standing as she was before him, her head tilted to one side, tears falling down her face. Next to her, holding her close in a fierce hug, kissing her cheek, was the woman, her mother.

"It seems like I can see her when I'm awake now," he said by way of explanation.

* * *

The rest of the school year flew by. Odd still saw the woman, in the real world as well as his dreams. In his dreams, she was always pleading for him to 'Help Delmas.' In the real world, she was always close to Sissi, holding or somehow touching her. 

Odd still didn't know how help Mr. Delmas like the woman wanted him to, and was really starting to bug him.

Principal Delmas seemed to grow more distant, too. It wasn't anything you could put a finger on, but it was true nonetheless. Her father's detachment and mood was even getting to Sissi. She spoke of it to all of her friends, at one time or the other.

And no one was any closer to discovering who was embezzling from the school, and suspicion started drifting towards the principal. Desmond Hopper insisted there was no evidence to indite him, but the Board of Directors of the school were starting to be swayed against the principal. By the End Of The School Year Dance, the situation came to a head. After classes were completed for the year, the Board met in a special session and suspended Principal Delmas on Suspicion of Embezzlement, pending an investigation by the police.

Sissi was devastated. When she heard the news, she ran to the Principal's Residence, but her father wouldn't see her. He wouldn't see anybody, other than Mr. Hopper or the police. Sissi spent the Dance crying in her room. Both Aelita and Odd tried comforting her, but to no avail.

Then came Sissi's birthday. Every year, no matter what happened, Mr. Delmas would always take Sissi out to dinner. It was the one time, other than Christmas, that Sissi looked forward to each year.

This year, there was no invitation.

Sissi tried calling her father, but he wouldn't answer. Frantic, she did the only thing she could think of and called Odd.

"Odd, I'm scared. I can't get a hold of Daddy!" she told him.

"It's probably okay, maybe something came up," Odd tried, but Sissi wouldn't have any of it.

"He has _never_ forgotten, never!" she shouted, "no matter what happened in his life, he has always remembered my birthday! And even if he did, he _would not_ have forgotten Mother! We've got to do something!"

"Alright, I'll be over. But I need to pick something up first," Odd replied and hung up.

It was late afternoon when Odd finally arrived. Until that time, Sissi just sat, worried sick about her father. Aelita tried consoling her, but was unable to. The only thing that kept Sissi sane was a warm presence all around her, almost as if someone was holding her, telling her it would be alright.

Odd had stopped at his studio to pick some things up. He had them in a backpack over his shoulder. He got Sissi, and they went to the Principal's Residence.

When they got there, the house was quiet. They walked in the door to silence and darkness. They quietly checked the house out, and found that it was empty. The only place left to check was the study. The door was shut and locked.

Odd fumbled around in his pockets and pulled something out. It was a scraper that sculptors used to fashion clay. He bent the wire, and put it in the lock. He twisted it, and the door opened.

Odd first, they slowly entered the study.

There, at his desk, sat Jean-Pierre Delmas. He looked like he hadn't changed clothes in days. Next to him, was an empty bottle of what looked like whiskey. He was holding two things in his hands. One was a picture in a frame.

The other was a revolver.

A floorboard creaked as they entered and Jean-Pierre Delmas looked up.

"What are you doing here?" he sternly asked.

"I was worried about you Daddy," Sissi started, but her father interrupted.

"Go back to your room, Sissi, I don't want you here."

"Sir, is everything okay? You've been giving Sissi quite a scare and..."

"Young man, I suggest you back off and take Sissi away from here. It would be very tempting to take you with me tonight," Delmas said to Odd.

"Where are you going Daddy?"

"Yes, Mr. Delmas, where are you going? And do you really need a gun to get there?"

Sissi's eyes went wide. She hadn't seen the revolver in her father's hand.

"You wouldn't understand," he said after a moment, "in the old days, when men were better than they are now, sometimes a man had to take his own life in order to spare the ones he loved the pain of humiliation."

"Are you talking about the embezzlement charge? The only people that seem to believe that are the Board. The police don't even seem to be taking it seriously," Odd told him.

"But the charge has been made, and there is no other explanation," Mr. Delmas replied, "the Board would have fired me at the end of the term, but Mr. Hopper wouldn't allow it. And I know that they are looking for a way around Hopper even at this moment. It's only a matter of time."

"So, killing yourself will make everything okay," Odd asked, "now, I'm not the sharpest pencil in the box, but it seems to me if you off yourself, that would tell everyone else that you did do it, or had something to do with it."

"Daddy, don't do this, please!" Sissi cried.

"Elizabeth, you don't understand. It's not just my suspension. I'm losing you too. Look at you, you're sixteen now. Soon, you'll be eighteen. Then you'll be gone. Seeing you here now with Mr. Della Robbia is almost more than I can bear."

"But you haven't lost me, Daddy, I'll never leave you," she pleaded.

"Yes you will, dear. In some ways, you already have. And I knew it would happen one day. It always does. A father always loses a big piece of himself when his daughter gives her heart to another."

"But what I regret the most is that when you finally leave, I'll lose _her_ too. You're the only thing I have left of your mother, and soon I won't even have that."

While Mr. Delmas was speaking, Odd had sat down, and pulled out his sketchbook. He was drawing furiously.

"You miss your wife, don't you?" Odd asked.

"Of course I do!" Delmas replied, "what kind of question is that?"

"She misses you, too," Odd replied, "believe it or not, I've met your wife. She has been visiting me for about the past six months, telling me to help you."

"That's absurd, and insulting..."

"Daddy, it's true," Sissi added.

"If you don't believe me, look," Odd said, and handed Mr. Delmas his sketchbook.

Jean-Pierre took the book and looked at the picture. It was a picture of him, sitting at the very desk he was seated at, with the gun in his hand, contemplating using it. Beside him, on her knees, trying to pry the gun away, was his wife.

She looked even more beautiful in Odd's drawing than in the wedding photograph of her he had been holding earlier.

"She's been trying to tell me that you were in trouble and needed help, but it's very hard for the dead to talk to the living," Odd said, "drawing is about the only way I can tell you what she's trying to say. Look at some of the other pictures."

Jean-Pierre flipped through the pages. In all of them, his wife was standing there, her love radiating from the page to him. In one picture, she was holding Sissi tight and kissing her, comforting her from some pain in her heart.

"She is here, right now, sir," Odd said after a moment, "that's how I was able to draw the sketch so fast. It was hard for me to understand what she was saying, but I did catch some of it."

"She loves you very much, even now, after all these years apart."

"And she is waiting for you to join her, where she is. But, if you take the way you're thinking about taking, you'll never see her. I'm certain of that much, anyway."

Sissi walked around the desk to her father. "Daddy, please give me the gun."

He looked at the picture of his wife, desperately trying to get the gun away from him, then at his daughter, eyes full of tears, afraid of what he may do next.

He gave Sissi the gun.

She very carefully set the gun on the edge of the desk, then wrapped her arms around her father. He returned her embrace, dropping Odd's sketch pad onto the desk.

Odd went over to the desk, retrieved his sketchbook, and removed the gun from the desk, and sat back down.

After a while, father and daughter broke their embrace. Jean-Pierre leaned back in his chair, and visibly relaxed. And for a moment, just a moment, he saw his wife standing before him, by his daughter.

"Cecilia!" he called out.

"Daddy?" Sissi asked.

But Cecilia had gone.

"It was nothing, Sissi, just a memory," he told her.

Elizabeth Cecilia Delmas looked at her father, "you saw her, didn't you?"

"I see her every time I look at you, Sissi. Why do think I've always called you that?"

Odd got up to leave. He set his sketchbook on Jean-Pierre's desk and turned to go.

"You can have those, sir. And if you like, I'd be happy to make a painting of one for you."

"Stay, Odd," Jean-Pierre said to him, "it is Sissi's birthday and I've been terribly remiss. If you and Miss Delmas can stand the company of an old fool, would you care to join me for dinner?"

"Certainly, Sir," Sissi replied.

"I would be honored, Sir," Odd replied.

"Tonight, and just for tonight, it is Jean-Pierre, not sir, Odd," Jean-Pierre replied. He picked up the telephone and made a quick call. "We can still have a late dinner. There is a little place in town that your mother and I went to a lot when we were dating. It's not very far away, so let's go."

"Daddy, I hope you know what you're getting into, feeding Odd The Bottomless Pit," Sissi said.

"I'll take the chance," he replied.

Jean-Pierre changed his clothes and cleaned him self up, and they went to dinner. They had a good late evening together. Mr. Delmas told stories about how he met his wife, and some of the things they did while dating. He even told them that he proposed to her in the very restaurant they were dining in.

After dinner, they returned to the Principal's Residence. Sissi asked if she could spend the night, and Jean-Pierre said of course. Odd then joking asked if he could spend the night. Mr. Delmas gave him a hard look, then said yes. There was a second guest bedroom in the residence, and he could use that.

The one thing that Odd did before retiring for the evening was to take the revolver and unload it. He also managed to jam a pencil into the barrel in such a way the the cylinder wouldn't close, rendering it useless.

* * *

Principal Delmas turned the corner after that night. 

Desmond Hopper found enough evidence to clear the principal of any hint of wrong doing. The Board quickly reinstated him, and placed a formal Letter Of Apology in his personnel record, to displace any negative repercussions of his suspension. Three months later, Jeremie and the gang found the embezzlers, and turned them over to the police.

Odd painted two of the sketches of Cecilia Delmas. One was of Sissi standing in the foreground, with Cecilia standing behind her and smiling, her hands resting on Sissi's shoulders. Sissi always kept it close to her.

The other was of Jean-Pierre Delmas sitting at his desk, with his wife beside him. Although, in the painting, she was not trying to wrest a revolver from his hand. She was posing proudly at the side of her husband, radiant in love and joy. In later his years, Jean-Pierre was fond of calling the painting 'His Della Robbia,' and it was priceless to him.

After that birthday, Jean-Pierre Delmas no longer invited his daughter to dinner. He explained that it was now Odd's responsibility to treat her as the fine gift she was. The next year, Odd and Sissi responded by formally inviting _him_ to dinner on her birthday, so he could continue to celebrate Sissi's and Cecilia's life with them.

And each year, on Sissi's birthday, until Jean-Pierre Delmas finally joined her, for a moment, just a moment, Cecilia Delmas was Allowed to join them.


End file.
